I had been hoping to see what new information the boy Hero had in store, but alas, it wasn’t to be — I had a war to prepare for if I didn’t want to lose my newly expanded domain.

It really made me wonder, though, did I really want to hold on to Canneria? It had been all but forced upon me, and it didn’t seem all that worth it. What use had I for land and subjects? I was a scholar, not a ruler.

There were a few options to weigh, so I figured I would approach them systematically.

To begin with, what were my goals? I had promised Sarah I would see the gods punished for their abuses, but that felt very far off into the future. For that I needed power, and a lot of it — my current avenue of research was broadening my repertoire of Aspects so that I could fuse them into Origin mana, which would take years, if not decades, of practice, by my estimation.

So, beyond growing stronger, I didn’t have any immediate goals I would want to achieve.

What, then, was hindering me from achieving my goals?

The biggest and greatest obstacle was my status as Dark Lord, which started the whole thing. If history was to be believed, I would be receiving assaults from bands of Heroes with some regularity — and since they were allowed to develop quickly while also undeterred from their purpose, they posed the biggest threat to my continued existence.

Sarah had been a fluke, attacking me while woefully under-prepared, and both she and Shiro had been victims of a conspiracy that seemed to involve a god. I was also lucky in that the remaining Heroes of this cohort wouldn’t have a full group, which played to my advantage.

Other polities were also an issue. While I had been, politically speaking, a small fry before this week, the fact that I had inadvertently conquered an entire Duchy — it didn’t matter that I had been set up, as the framing had been very thorough — would make other, more powerful political entities feel ill at ease. Say, enough that they would have their armies march through my lands all the way to my tower, killing everything in their path. Or even just to hire another archmage or two to put me into the ground. One, I might be able to deal with, but two? That was all but suicide.

This reputation as a slayer of rulers would make any form of diplomacy untenable.

That likely meant I needed to hold on to my territories, for the sake of political power if not for the military capabilities.

I frowned as I considered this — I had really been pushed down a very narrow path by Thaos and the god he served. I would need to research this Fox he mentioned. My assumption was that the Fox and the god he was linked to were one and the same, but I had never heard of a god using vulpine symbolism.

Sighing, I made my decision — the only one I realistically had — and began walking in the directions of the barracks. My Dead Legion did not require anything special to prepare for the assault, so I would have them move in position when the action drew near. The living troops, however — palace and city guardsmen, in part, although there was also an army regiment garrisoned in the city — would require a much more delicate approach, and for that, I needed a professional.

Emerea Thuli had been Captain of the Guard in Ardenburg for the past thirty years, and she was the iron rod that kept the Guard ready for action. I knew this because it was the first thing that came out of her mouth after I approached her, looking for guidance, and she had yet to stop talking about the Guard’s accomplishments.

I felt a bit of sympathy for my poor knight when I realized that this must have been how she had felt when I subjected her to the unabridged history of Ravenrock.

Luckily for me, Captain Thuli was exactly what I needed the most — a senior officer with a great deal of experience. I was also a bit relieved to finally find someone who didn’t care for my reputation, and hopefully, her irreverent demeanor would remain even after she finished cooing over her Guard.

“I understand that your men are worth four of the provincials,” I interrupted her as she berated the quality of the soldiery in the rest of the Duchy, “but despite that, I would like to know specifically how many we can rely on for the upcoming battles.”

She glowered at me, clearly dissatisfied with my request. “I did mention it—”

Oops, I must have missed it.

“—but I’ll say it again for your benefit. The Ardenburg Guard is 980 strong, including the palace guard.” She scowled when she mentioned the palace guardsmen, and I wasn’t sure if it was directed at them, or at me. At the very least, I was glad I had chosen a non-lethal way to deal with them.

“And the garrison?”

“Another 1100, give or take. Not as good as my boys and girls, though, not at all.”

I was more than a bit skeptical of her assessment of the Guard, but still, a force of almost 2200 was nothing to scoff at.

“What of the incoming armies? Do we have eyes on their makeup?”

“The old duke was too paranoid to allow his vassals to field their own armies. So whatever’s coming our way should be mostly guardsmen and conscripted levies—”

I frowned in distaste at the mention of levies. Why did nobles always insist on sending peasants to their deaths?

“—we don’t have any numbers yet, but I’ve sent a contingent of scouts ahead to see what they can gather. They have a Fate mage with them, so they should be able to report as soon as they have eyes on the rebels.”

“I see. You should know, I also have a couple hundred of my undead ready to be mustered. They’re much sturdier than the living, so they would do well as a vanguard.”

The captain grunted in acknowledgment. “If they can keep the enemies off my men I’d gladly appreciate it.”

“Easily done,” I agreed. “Now, do you have any suggestions on how to approach the defense? You are one of the most senior officers around, I believe.”

She seemed to consider the matter for a few moments and finally shook her head. “It’s hard to tell without knowing what kind of forces they’re bringing. In any case, it’ll likely come down to a battle for the city walls — they’re a great boon for defense, and even if they bring enough manpower to siege us, it will be very difficult for them to breach through, while we’ll be holding an advantageous position.”

I hummed as I digested the new information. It seemed tactically sound, but I had precious little experience with warfare. I couldn’t help but chuckle at how my life had ended up going — could the me of ten years ago ever have predicted I’d be leading troops into battle?

“I’ll consult with you again once we have words from the scouts, then.” As I turned around to leave, I remembered that there was something else the captain could help me with. I stopped halfway, then turned to face the grizzled woman again.

“Captain Thuli?”

She blinked, a bit surprised to see me still there. “Yes? Was there something else?”

“I believe I requested that any dissenting soldiers be captured. Do you know where I can find them?”

The woman paled, and although she had it quickly under control, I was able to spot a tremble going through her body.

“There aren’t any, sir,” she spoke softly, as if uncertain of her words.

I blinked in surprise. “None at all? Everyone can’t have possibly just accepted the new status quo.”

Captain Thuli shook her head as she explained. “There were two dozen of them. We just…” she sounded parched, a hint of grief lacing her voice. “We couldn’t get them alive,” she finished with a whisper.

There was a secret there, but I wasn’t sure pushing the woman was in my best interest. Although shaky, we had built a certain professional rapport. Had she arranged for them to escape? That was a possibility, but it didn’t explain her demeanor. Unless she was acting, trying to cover for them to buy them time to get away?

It didn’t matter, in the end. Two dozen men would have helped, but it wasn’t worth turning a competent officer against me. I shrugged, dismissing her, and then moved on to other preparations.

The scouts sent word later that day, and the news was grim. We were up against the combined forces of six of the former duke’s vassals, and in all they accounted for just under a thousand trained men. Their smaller number of professional soldiers was the only good news to arrive, however, as the bulk of their forces constituted no less than ten thousand levies.

How had they even managed to conscript so many, so quickly? It had only been five days, and they would have begun to march two days ago at the latest. Had they been planning a coup against the duke and just decided to go on with it, anyway? Or was it divine providence, instead?

One thing was certain, at least, and that was the upcoming battle would not be easy.

I had conferred with the captain again, this time in the company of a couple of other experienced officers, and everyone had agreed that our best plan was to bunker inside the city and pelt them from the top of the walls while making sure they would be unable to breach the gates.

At least, with most of them being farmers and other skilled laborers, they wouldn’t have the right kind of manpower to scale the walls. A small blessing when they could just throw bodies against the walls. Even with Thuli’s grandiose claims of the Guard’s martial prowess, we were outnumbered five to one. These were worrying odds.

Despite my body not having anything resembling a heart, I felt something like the echo of a blood rush as I considered my options. With so many lives at stake, I felt quite a bit guilty for my excitement, but at the same time, I hadn’t been challenged like this in a long time. Even though I had nothing in the way of military experience, to me this was a puzzle, and I loved little more than cracking a tough puzzle.

Ideas and half-formed plans began bubbling in my head, and I couldn’t help but grin as I considered the possibilities. If I wanted to win this, I needed to cheat.